Moll v. Griffith

• Decision Date: 04 August 2022
• Docket Number: 539,CA 21-00455
• Citation: 208 A.D.3d 1032,173 N.Y.S.3d 754
• Parties: Mark MOLL and Carmela Moll, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. William F. GRIFFITH, II, also Known as W F Griffith, II, City of Jamestown and Jamestown Department of Public Works, Defendants-Appellants.
• Court: New York Supreme Court — Appellate Division

208 A.D.3d 1032

173 N.Y.S.3d 754

Mark MOLL and Carmela Moll, Plaintiffs-Respondents,

v.William F. GRIFFITH, II, also Known as W F Griffith, II, City of Jamestown and Jamestown Department of Public Works, Defendants-Appellants.

539

CA 21-00455

Supreme Court, Appellate Division, Fourth Department, New York.

Entered: August 4, 2022

SUGARMAN LAW FIRM LLP, BUFFALO (MARINA A. MURRAY OF COUNSEL), FOR DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS.

LEWIS & LEWIS, P.C., BUFFALO (MICHAEL T. COUTU OF COUNSEL), FOR PLAINTIFFS-RESPONDENTS.

PRESENT: PERADOTTO, J.P., LINDLEY, NEMOYER, CURRAN, AND WINSLOW, JJ.

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER

It is hereby ORDERED that the order so appealed from is unanimously modified on the law by granting the motion in part and dismissing the complaint insofar as it alleges claims of negligent hiring, training, and supervision and negligent entrustment, and as modified the order is affirmed without costs.

Memorandum: Plaintiffs commenced this action seeking damages for injuries sustained by plaintiff Mark Moll when the pickup truck that he was driving was struck by a snowplow owned by defendant City of Jamestown (City) and operated by defendant William F. Griffith, II, also known as W F Griffith, II, an employee of defendant Jamestown Department of Public Works (DPW). Defendants appeal from an order that, inter alia, denied their motion for summary judgment dismissing the complaint.

We agree with defendants that Supreme Court erred in denying that part of their motion seeking summary judgment dismissing plaintiffs’ negligent hiring, training, and supervision claim, and we therefore modify the order accordingly. "Generally, where an employee is acting within the scope of his or her employment, the employer is liable for the employee's negligence under a theory of respondeat superior and no claim may proceed against the employer for negligent hiring, retention, supervision, or training" ( Decker v. State of New York , 164 A.D.3d 650, 653, 83 N.Y.S.3d 533 [2d Dept. 2018] [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Brown v. First Student, Inc. , 167 A.D.3d 1455, 1456, 90 N.Y.S.3d 747 [4th Dept. 2018] ; Watson v. Strack , 5 A.D.3d 1067, 1068, 773 N.Y.S.2d 676 [4th Dept. 2004] ). "While an exception exists to this general principle where the injured plaintiff is seeking punitive damages from the employer based on alleged gross negligence in the hiring or retention of the employee" ( Watson , 5 A.D.3d at 1068, 773 N.Y.S.2d 676 [internal quotation marks omitted]), "that exception is inapplicable [where the plaintiffs] did not seek punitive damages based upon an allegation that the defendant was grossly negligent in the hiring of its employees" ( Decker , 164 A.D.3d at 654, 83 N.Y.S.3d 533 ; see Henry v. Sunrise Manor Ctr. for Nursing & Rehabilitation , 147 A.D.3d 739, 741-742, 46 N.Y.S.3d 649 [2d Dept. 2017] ). Here, plaintiffs do not seek punitive damages and failed to allege that defendants acted with gross negligence (see Decker , 164 A.D.3d at 654, 83 N.Y.S.3d 533 ).

We also agree with defendants that the court erred in denying their motion with respect to plaintiffs’ negligent entrustment claim, and we therefore further modify the order accordingly. "To establish a cause of action under a theory of negligent entrustment, the defendant must ... have some special knowledge concerning a characteristic or condition peculiar to the [person to whom a particular chattel is given] which renders [that person's] use of the chattel unreasonably dangerous" ( Monette v. Trummer , 105 A.D.3d 1328, 1330, 964 N.Y.S.2d 345 [4th Dept. 2013], affd 22 N.Y.3d 944, 976 N.Y.S.2d 696, 999 N.E.2d 174 [2013] [internal quotation marks omitted]; see Cook v. Schapiro , 58 A.D.3d 664, 666, 871 N.Y.S.2d 714 [2d Dept. 2009], lv denied 12 N.Y.3d 710, 2009 WL 1260022 [2009] ). Here, defendants’ submissions established that Griffith had prior experience driving a snowplow and, for a few weeks after Griffith was hired by DPW, he was trained by an...